“As Time Goes By” by Herman Hupfeld is not only sung by Sam,
the beloved pianist, in Casablanca, but the score also continues to play in
various other scenes throughout the movie. This song is repeated and emphasized
so many times it is associated as a sort of “theme song” for the beloved 1942
film. We first encounter the song in Rick’s Café Américain, when the long lost
Ilsa requests that Sam play an old favorite for her, claiming that nobody can
play it as well as he can. Sam is extremely hesitant but eventually begins to
play and sing the song for Ilsa. Rick, the owner of the café and Sam’s boss,
then walks up and chastises Sam saying, “Sam, I thought I told you never to
play…” In this scene, we realize that Rick and Ilsa have some sort of past
together, and because we have no other information, we begin to associate their
past with the song “As Time Goes By.”
Here is a link to this clip from the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vThuwa5RZU
As the movie progresses, the score plays
as Rick and Ilsa discuss their past. During a series of flashbacks in which we
learn about their love affair in Paris, we hear Sam sing and play the song
again as the couple enjoy some champagne. This scene takes place right before
the Germans reach Paris, causing Rick to flee. The score is playing lightly in
the background while we see the couple at the height of their love, ready to run
away together; however, as the audience we know that their plan will not succeed.
When Ilsa does not show up to the train station the next day, the audience
begins to understand why Rick feels so strongly about Sam playing the song in
his café in the present, as it reminds him of a lost love.
“As Time Goes By”
acts as an auditory reminder to the audience of the past they had and how Ilsa
ended it. In the context of Casablanca, I see “As Time Goes By” as one of
Eliade’s hierophanies. It is a manifestation of the sacred, which is in this case Rick
and Ilsa’s time in Paris, and alludes to this time and place as the axis mundi
of their past. Throughout the rest of the film, we continue to hear Rick and Ilsa
talk about their time in Paris as a calm and ordered time before the present
time of chaos and running from the Germans. Their allusions to their time in
Paris are very similar to illusions of sacred times and places which are found
in religions. They see Paris as homogenous. Rick and Ilsa spend a while trying
to restore order from the chaos that is their present lives, and continue to
reference their sacred time in Paris in contrast to their profane lives in
Casablanca. Ilsa even uses “As Time Goes By as a hierophany to link herself
back to the sacred time and place. However, because the order they are looking
for is in the past, Rick eventually realizes that the order cannot be restored
as it was and finds a solution to their problem within the chaos. The song
continues to remind of us their sacred time, or axis mundi in Paris.
The idea of “As Time Goes By” as a sort of heirophany is interesting. I would agree that Paris for them is an axis mundi, upon which they can base their actions and orient themselves to the world. If Paris is a heirophany, though, it would not be considered homogenous, but instead a heterogenous break from the secular world. Their time in Casablanca is homogenous -- that is, until “As Time Goes By” is played again. Their existence apart from each other is a homogenous passage, and the song brings an interruption to that homogeneity, creating a heirophany by inserting an experience of the sacred.
ReplyDeleteI too believe that "As Time Goes By" can serve as a sort of auditory hierophany in the sense that it forms a break from the world of Casablanca and has a different spiritual quality than the image of the bar. I feel the need to insert something about homogeneity vs heterogeneity. You are perfectly correct in saying that the song could be heterogeneous in reference to being separate from the secular world of Casablanca and the cafe, and this is generally what is referred to when we say a sacred place is heterogenous (as in heterogenous to the profane.) However, I thought Endya was saying that the song was part of the same homogeneous spiritual environment as Paris, the axis mundi, although I could be wrong. I find that homogeneity and heterogeneity are confusing terms in that their usage in this context often begs for very specific writing, like 'homogeneous to Paris" or "homogeneous to the secular world" because it is often ambiguous as to what we're deciding is separate or the same.
DeleteOn a separate note, I was wondering if anyone else felt that Rick's office had hierophanic qualities. I felt that it was clearly separated or heterogenous in reference to the rest of the cafe. The office has a quiet atmosphere not unlike that of a church, but extremely different from the raucous cafe. When the doors close, it is like a completely different realm is entered, one of peace. It is also a safe place where people could discuss matters that should remain unknown to the Germans. I feel like Rick also went into the office for introspection and remembrance of his time in Paris, or in other words, to reconnect with the realm of the axis mundi. Admittedly, the office is not important in the storyline, but it just seemed to me as it were "wholly other" to the rest of the cafe despite being so very physically close. Anyone else?
I can definitely see the office acting as a hierophany. It did not occur to me while watching the film, but your comment seems extremely accurate to me. Rick's office seems like a place where he can be himself and be more honest with people, and a large number of the plot driving scenes took place there.
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